Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2021) 136: 602
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01560-3

Review

Status of direct and indirect solar desalination methods: comprehensive review

¹ Department of Renewable Energies and Environmental, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
² Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
³ Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, 33431, Boca Raton, FL, USA
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, 14411, Phagwara, Punjab, India
⁵ Institute of Thermal Science and Power Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, 430205, Wuhan, China

^b mohammadhosein.ahmadi@gmail.com
^e pourfayaz@ut.ac.ir
^f rav.chauhan@yahoo.co.in
^g lingenchen@hotmail.com

Received: 5 April 2021
Accepted: 12 May 2021
Published online: 29 May 2021

Abstract

The majority of existing water is saline water and it is crucial to find approaches and technologies to desalinate water in an efficient and reliable manner. Solar energy can be applied in desalination systems in order to provide required heat or generate needed electricity by using PV modules. Applying solar energy instead of fossil fuels leads to more environmentally benign technologies in desalinating saline water. Due to the severe worldwide water crisis, precise comprehension of desalination methods can pave the way toward potable water achievement at reasonable cost. In this paper, a comprehensive literature review is accomplished on various types of desalination systems and applications of solar energy in these technologies. Based on the reviewed studies, solar energy is a preferable source of energy for fresh water production with lower greenhouse gases emission and high operation reliability.